New book for parents of premature infants

Nov 19 2010

Years after the homecoming, parents of premature infants frequently report difficulty explaining the concept to their children, and are unprepared to handle their strong reactions.

That doesn't have to be the case, says healthcare communication specialist Candy Campbell, author of "Good Things Come In Small Packages (I Was a Preemie )" (2010, ISBN  978-0-9842385-1-4). Campbell states her research with parents of premature infants turned up some surprising discoveries. When the time comes to view photos of the preemies' first few weeks and months of life, many children elicit strong feelings.

Some of the most common reactions include:

• "You left me alone with strangers?"
• "Why did you let them stick tubes in me?"
• "Was I a 'bad baby?'"
• "Why was I born early?'"

The I Was a Preemie book was conceived to help parents diffuse the young child's feelings of hurt, anger and confusion when faced with the difficult facts of his/her early beginnings. "Parents who bring their children home after several grueling weeks or months in the neonatal intensive care unit just want to stash those pictures under the bed and get on with the business of life," says Campbell. "They are so shell-shocked from the trauma and the drama of the NICU, it's totally understandable. When the child goes to preschool or kindergarten, a typical homework assignment is to bring in a baby picture. That's when the trouble begins."

One such parent, who knew Campbell as a children's book author and neonatal nurse, requested she write a book addressing the issue. "Since she is a friend, and we met when I took care of her daughters, of course I felt compelled to take up the challenge."

The result? "It's a story told in one little person's voice, as he discovers his difficult beginnings. Parents tell me the book's message has a great impact on kids: they hear how they were loved even before they were born. I think, intuitively, that's very comforting. It's what we all want to know."

Prompted by the fact premature births have risen to over 500,00 a year in the U.S. alone, November has been declared National Prematurity Awareness Month. According to the March of Dimes, prematurity today is as common as polio in the 1940s. Despite the latest research into causes of prematurity, a sure-cure is not yet within reach. One of the main drivers is the number of women who defer childbearing until later in life. Older mothers, and/or mothers of multiples, are often unable to carry their infants to term (40 weeks). In keeping with this month's theme, I Was a Preemie is available now from Amazon, in softcover or eBook.